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E SAND-TABLE 

A Manual for 
Sunday Schoolteachers 



LILLIE A.FARIS 



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COF/RIGHT DEPOSIT. 



The Sand-table 

A Manual for 
Sunday School Teachers 



BY 

LILLIE A. FARIS 




Cincinnati 
The Standard Publishing Company 



Copyright, 1915 
The Standard Publishing Company 



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©CU416165 
OCT 29 1915 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Foreword 7 

PART I. 

The Sand-table— The Material 

I. The Use of the Sand-table 11 

II. The Making of the Sand-table 15 

III. The Care of the Sand-table 19 

IV. Illustrative Material 23 

PART II. 
Stories Illustrated 

V. The Five Thousand Fed— The Story of the Baby 
Moses — The Story of the Wise-men — The 
Anointing of David — Other Stories Briefly 
Outlined — Jesus and Blind Bartimseus — Jesus 
Healing a Sick Man — The Triumphal Entry. . 31 
VI. Suggestions for Map Work — The Story of Paul. 69 

Closing Word 88 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

It Catches the Interest of the Boys 12 * 

Junior Boys and Girls Working Out a Story 14 • 

Sand-table Showing Economy of Space 18 *• 

Cabinet Showing Sand-table and Care of Material. . . 26 k 
Story of Moses — Note Miriam, the Princess, Her 

Maid and the Basket Boat 40 

A Junior Telling the Story of the Wise-men 48 * 

Juniors Making a Map of Palestine 68 u 

Map of Palestine in the Time of Christ 70 ^ 

Sand-table Map of Palestine, Locating Some Im- 
portant Mountains 72 ^ 

Map Showing Second Missionary Journey of Paul. . . 81 S 



FOREWORD 

In answer to the many inquiries as to 
the use and care of the sand-table in the 
Elementary department of the Sunday 
school, and in order to aid Elementary 
teachers by placing before them the very 
simplest devices and plans which may 
be utilized as a means of story illustra- 
tion, this little book of instruction is 
issued. 

It has been our aim to mention only 
such material as may be easily obtained, 
or made, so that even the most inex- 
perienced may be able to emphasize the 
thought of the lesson. 

With the hope that the teacher, who 
makes the first trial of the illustration of 
the story or the lesson, may catch from 
the beaming eyes of the little ones of her 
class the inspiration that will help her 
to try again, we send it forth. 



PART I. 

THE SAND-TABLE— THE 
MATERIAL 



The Use of the Sand-table. 

The whole Sunday-school world is 
just beginning to recognize the fact that 
a very large per cent, of the child's learn- 
ing comes through the eye. To be sure, 
there have been a few teachers and a 
few schools that have been awake to 
this fact for several years, but in the 
main the schools are just beginning to 
see the great need ; therefore, the demand 
for pictures, blackboards, object-lessons 
of all sorts is far greater to-day than 
ever before in the history of the world, 
and the introduction of the sand-table 
into the Elementary department heralds 
a comprehensive instruction for its chil- 
dren. 

For so long a time we have been con- 
tent to tell the story without objects of 
any sort, and they are so vitally necessary 
to the child's understanding. Many, in- 
deed, have been content to try to teach the 
11 



12 THE SAND-TABLE 

topic and Golden Text of the lesson with- 
out making any impression whatever on 
the child's mind, except, perhaps, to give 
him a bundle of confused ideas which 
mean absolutely nothing to him. 

The blackboard has an important 
place to fill in this connection, but there 
is nothing that so attracts the child and 
impresses the thought of the lesson as the 
illustration with the sand-table. 

In visiting departments here and there 
we have found many places where the 
sand-table is looked upon as an object 
of play for little people. In the home 
or in the kindergarten it may well be 
used in such capacity, but in the Sunday 
school it has a different use altogether, 
and that is to provide the means of 
illustrating the lesson story so that it 
may be more deeply impressed upon the 
child's mind. 

Our children have had little thought 
as to the setting of the stories, conse- 
quently their ideas are very indefinite. 
The sand-table is the means of prevent- 
ing this confusion of ideas, and its use 
in the Beginners and Primary depart- 



THE MATERIAL 13 

ments is particularly to picture the story 
as nearly as possible. 

In the Junior department the story 
occasionally may be illustrated, but the 
main use of the sand-table here is to 
teach locality, to build in relief the places 
around which the lessons center. The 
children in this department are beginning 
in public school the study of geography, 
and especially in the second and third 
year Junior they may, by the use of the 
sand-table, become very familiar with the 
character of the country, with the loca- 
tion of the mountains, the rivers, the 
chief cities, that are mentioned in any 
of their lessons. 

The missionary journeys of Paul may 
be traced by these children; the trip of 
Joseph and Mary with the baby Jesus, 
when they fled from Bethlehem to Egypt, 
may be traced by them, as, indeed, may 
any story which occupies their attention. 

The children in this department are in 
the great memory period, and if these 
things are brought before them, if the 
locations are brought out in relief, if the 
lesson is made to stand out as something 



14 THE SAND-TABLE 

that really happened, then the work has 
been well done. This may be accom- 
plished by the careful, studied use of the 
sand-table. One is attracted and im- 
pressed with the great relief map of the 
Holy Land which occupies a conspicu- 
ous place at Chautauqua, N. Y. In no 
less a way is the child in the Junior de- 
partment impressed by the map made in 
the sand in a miniature way in his own 
little Sunday-school room. 

The use of the sand-table need not be 
confined to the Elementary departments 
of the school; indeed, we have witnessed 
great numbers of adults who would sit 
spellbound while one would illustrate a 
story by means of just such simple objects 
as are used in connection with this, and 
the time is coming when an Elementary 
department will be incomplete without a 
sand-table. 



II. 

The Making of the Sand-table. 

There are many plans for the making 
of the sand-table. The regular kinder- 
garten sand-table is about three feet wide 
by six in length. It is low so that the 
children may easily stand around it and 
help in any way that the teacher may ask, 
by placing the objects, or helping to build. 

This sand-table is, of course, always 
a good one, but there are only few de- 
partments that can afford the space re- 
quired, because it must remain in a cer- 
tain position all of the time and occupy 
the same space. Most classrooms can 
not afford to give up a corner 8x4, there- 
fore in many of our schools the regular 
kindergarten table is deemed imprac- 
ticable. 

The illustrations which accompany 
this chapter show different ways of build- 
ing a sand-table. Some are built right 
into the wall of the room, as per cut 

15 



16 THE SAND-TABLE 

No. 2, and these are closed after the les- 
son has been sufficiently drilled upon and 
appear only as a panel in the cabinet 
or wall. This is by far the most con- 
venient way of caring for it in the Sun- 
day-school room. If a teacher wishes to 
use the same illustration the second time, 
she would leave the table undisturbed. If 
there be a time when she does not care 
to use it on the following Sunday, the 
space in the room is at her disposal with 
the lifting of the sand-table into its 
proper place. 

Picture No. 3 shows another form of 
sand-table, but with the improvement of 
a lid, which extends half-way over the 
sand-board and catches down very secure- 
ly, so that no other receptacle is needed 
for the sand. 

When this table is not in use, it forms 
a neat panel in the cabinet. The legs 
hang like those of a folding-bed, and 
when the table is opened the supports 
give it the right height for the children. 
When it is in use the lid is unhooked and 
placed back against the wall so that it 
does not take away any of the attractive- 



THE MATERIAL 17 

ness of the table itself. When the lesson 
is ended this lid is hooked down and the 
table lifted to its proper place. The table 
itself, the panel and all, are protected if 
it be lined with tin or zinc, because the 
teacher will need to dampen the sand to 
keep it in good order to build the relief 
which she wishes. 

Another form of sand-table, and a 
very desirable one, may be made of zinc, 
any size to suit the department, but pref- 
erably one about four or five feet long 
by two and a half or three feet wide, 
and perhaps five inches deep. This 
should be placed upon a low stand or low 
rack within good range of the children's 
eyes. One can readily see that this sort 
of a table is a very practical one because 
one can really use water for lakes and 
rivers, for, after the lesson is ended, the 
water will only tend to keep the sand in 
good order, and by the next use of the 
table this will all have evaporated. 

If the teacher who wishes to make 
use of this material should be so situated 
that she can not have a separate class- 
room or department for her work, then 



18 THE SAND-TABLE 

even a large-sized baking-pan of the 
heavy sheet-iron makes a splendid substi- 
tute for the regular table. This may be 
placed on a chair or small tabouret and 
used to good advantage. 

A very fine type of sand-table may be 
made outdoors where there is space 
enough near the church. Boys and girls 
will be glad to work on such an one as 
much as the teacher might suggest. For 
use in missionary stories, or Bible stories, 
nothing could be better. The stories be- 
come so realistic that they can never be 
effaced from memory. 

Take the fine old hymn: 

"From Greenland's icy mountains, 

From India's coral strands, 
Where Afric's sunny fountains 
Roll down their golden sands." 

Imagine the setting, and place the 
children in the different countries repre- 
sented by your large map. Show America 
also, and let the people of these different 
countries appeal for help, then watch the 
attitude toward missionary enterprises. 



III. 

The Care of the Sand-table. 

The white sand is not so desirable for 
use in this table as the ordinary sand 
which abounds in almost all communities, 
for the reason that our common sand is 
the color of the earth and it will pack to 
much better advantage in making relief 
maps, and altogether gives a better setting 
to the story. In certain sections where 
the white sand is more easily obtained, 
as at the seashore, it is not objectionable; 
in so many instances, however, people 
have an idea they must send to a kinder- 
garten company and obtain a barrel of 
white sand, when it is not so good for 
the work as the common kind. It is a 
good plan, if convenient, to have a box 
of white sand that may be used occasion- 
ally for roads or in other ways to aid the 
story setting. 

The interest of the children, from the 
very first, should be solicited in the care 

19 



20 THE SAND-TABLE 

of the sand and the objects used for 
illustration. The teacher's work is often 
made irksome because she does not call 
to her aid the helping hands that are 
eager for employment. The older chil- 
dren may be taught to take care of the 
objects, wrapping them in paper or plac- 
ing them in boxes of chaff or sawdust, 
if they be breakable toys, or putting them 
neatly into envelopes if they be cut of 
cardboard, keeping always the material 
for one lesson separate from that of 
another, though the teacher herself may 
often wish to use the same material to 
picture a similar lesson. For instance, 
the sheep which helped to picture the 
story of the shepherds as they watched 
their flocks may be used as the story of 
David, the shepherd boy, is told. Each 
box or envelope should be labeled, 
and all material for one story could be 
thus cared for and the teacher appropri- 
ate just such as she may wish. A shelf 
or drawer or large box may be provided 
for the keeping of this sand-table 
material. 

As for the sand itself, it should be 



THE MATERIAL 21 

moistened enough so that it can be easily 
shaped. It will thus represent the lesson 
and stay in place much better than if left 
dry, because dry sand is so easily shifted; 
sometimes the slightest jar will displace 
it, and the little people standing round 
the table are apt to shake it. 

If the regular kindergarten sand-table 
be provided, then there is a solid wood 
cover which will preserve the lesson as 
pictured as well as the teacher may wish. 
If the sand-table be a home-made one, 
then the same sort of cover should be pro- 
vided — it should be of rather heavy 
material that will not warp and look un- 
sightly, and yet one which the teachers 
themselves can handle. The table which 
folds up into the cabinet may also be left 
for a second use, or review, by placing 
some sort of protection over the top of it. 

Above all things, have the children 
understand that the sand-table is not a 
plaything. The children should be al- 
lowed to help whenever possible in the 
placing of objects or the making of a 
mountain or valley or river, but they 
should not do this without the teacher's 



22 THE SAND-TABLE 

direction. They will soon understand 
that this is for their instruction, and they 
will learn to regard it as they would any 
other part of the equipment, and will not 
undertake to handle or disturb in any 
way without the teacher's word. 



IV. 

Illustrative Material. 

In order to present a lesson on the 
sand-table it is not necessary that a 
teacher have quantities of all sorts of 
material, but there are some things that 
are indispensable, and the material here 
mentioned is not for any particular les- 
son, but that which, in general, a teacher 
may collect and keep, for it is of the kind 
that will be demanded in many of the 
lessons. 

People. — Many little figures cut from 
picture lesson cards or other sources, and 
pasted to toothpicks so that they will 
stand in the sand, should always be kept 
on hand. These may even be cut from a 
heavy quality of paper and touches of 
color added by use of the crayola, or tiny 
metal figures may be used. They should 
have little strips of bright-colored cloth 
thrown around the shoulders to represent 
the Oriental costume. These always com- 

23 



24 THE SAND-TABLE 

pel the child's deepest reverence. Care 
should be taken that the figures be not 
too large for the size of the table; they 
should be very tiny indeed in comparison 
with the mountains, lakes and everything 
which is used to represent the lesson. 
One ought not expect the children to be 
reverent if one should use a donkey some- 
what taller than the mountain, or a boat 
larger than the lake which it is supposed 
to cross. 

Animals. — Miniature animals may 
sometimes be secured at the novelty store, 
and just at this time when the Japanese 
gardens are used so extensively for table 
decoration, the very tiniest of birds, 
animals and figures may be obtained. 
However, if these are considered too ex- 
pensive, there is the plain paper that one 
may substitute, cutting the shape of the 
object desired. 

A sheep may be represented by taking 
a tiny bit of cotton and sticking a pin 
through it, or by the tiny cotton sheep 
that one may sometimes buy at Christmas 
time. Again, care must be exercised, for 
many times the sheep thus purchased are 



THE MATERIAL 25 

larger than the shepherds, and for that 
reason the tiny ones made from cotton 
are really preferable. 

Flowers. — Scraps of different colored 
papers are always handy. Very tiny bits 
of bright-colored tissue, stuck on the end 
of a toothpick, will answer for flowers 
which abound in Palestine. Here, again, 
the children may help; they will be de- 
lighted to cut the tiny sacred lily, the 
rose of Sharon, the daisy or cyclamen, or 
any of those which a teacher may sug- 
gest. Other bits of bright colors may be 
used to wrap around toothpicks, and in 
lieu of other figures these may represent 
people. 

Trees. — Many trees of various kinds 
will be needed, and the teacher should 
study the outlines of these so that she 
may be able to cut from light-weight 
cardboard, or heavy crepe paper, different 
kinds, as occasions demand. During cer- 
tain seasons of the year it is possible to 
get tiny twigs and bits of different kinds 
of shrubs to represent the trees, and 
these, of course, make the appearance far 
more attractive. However, these are not 



26 THE SAND-TABLE 

obtainable at all seasons and in all places, 
and a splendid substitute are little trees 
cut from this light-weight paper. 

Grass. — Moss, such as the children 
themselves may gather from the roots of 
all the trees in the woods, will make the 
hillside or the meadow appear beautiful. 
In the cities this moss may be obtained 
from the florist. Here, also, the crepe 
paper may be used if moss can not be 
obtained. 

Crepe Paper. — The crepe paper may 
be used in various ways. If one does not 
care to use the real water to represent the 
lake and the river, then the crepe paper 
has its place. The lake may be made any 
size with just the light blue paper pressed 
in the bottom of the table and the sand 
banked around the edges, or the long 
strip of light blue paper may be used as 
the river; with the pushing aside of the 
sand, and the paper laid along the table, 
the sand made to represent a bank on 
either side, it appears to the children very 
realistic. 

Tents, Houses, Boats, etc. — These 
may be cut from light-weight cardboard 




CABINET SHOWING SAND-TABLE AND CARE OF 
MATERIAL. 



THE MATERIAL 27 

or folded from paper. Many times the 
older boys are glad to whittle these out 
of wood, and they really enjoy being of 
some service to the teacher. 

To all this material might be added 
boxes of tiny shells and little white peb- 
bles, which the children love to gather and 
which the teacher will find necessary as 
she pictures the lake or the river. Special 
care should be taken of these; some regu- 
larly appointed children may gather again 
and place in boxes after they have been 
used, thus preserving them for another 
time. 

In the lessons which follow, different 
bits of the material are suggested as the 
lesson treatment requires, but many of 
these may be dispensed with if the teacher 
finds it necessary, and her lesson may still 
be made as lasting as life itself. 



PART II. 
STORIES ILLUSTRATED 



29 



V. 

The Five Thousand Fed. 

For this lesson it would be well to 
represent the portion of the Holy Land 
that extends along the Jordan Valley, 
showing the Lake of Galilee at the upper 
course of the river and then showing the 
river winding to the Dead Sea. A tiny 
group of houses on the western shore of 
the Lake of Galilee will represent Caper- 
naum, and a small picture of Jesus may 
be used to show him as he is working 
among the people, with the ever-increas- 
ing multitude coming to bring their sick 
or to listen to him teach. 

Picture the Sea of Galilee most dis- 
tinctly and especially the eastern shore. 
Near the shore small pebbles and shells in 
abundance should be used ; as it gradually 
rises the grassy hillsides may be seen, and 
it is perfectly proper to show tiny dots 
of red, yellow or white, which will repre- 
sent the flowers blossoming at this spring- 

31 



32 THE SAND-TABLE 

time season. (The flowers may be made 
by pasting the tiniest bits of tissue paper 
on toothpicks which have first been 
dipped in green ink or tgg dye.) 

Mark some particular home and tell 
of the little lad who started from his 
home, carrying his lunch with him, to 
hear the Master teach. His home must 
have been quite a distance out of Caper- 
naum, else he would not have needed the 
lunch. Show the figures of the disciples 
and move them up toward the city of 
Capernaum, finally to the spot where 
Jesus is teaching, and then take the story 
up as follows: 

See, here is Jesus working among the 
people, making the blind to see, the lame 
to walk, and healing many of them of 
other diseases. Perhaps this little, tiny 
baby in its mother's arms was sick and 
Jesus healed it. I do not know how many 
there were, but there must have been 
many, many people that day helped by 
him. But here through the great crowd 
come the disciples and they have a mes- 
sage for Jesus; they want to tell him 
about their work, and, too, there is 



STORIES ILLUSTRATED 33 

another little message that is sad. They 
tell him that his good helper, John, is 
dead. Perhaps Jesus is tired; perhaps 
he wants to hear all about the work that 
these men have been doing; he turns to 
them and says, "Let us go out a little way 
in the boat." Here is the boat. Jesus 
and his disciples get in here and push 
out a little way and the people on the 
shore are saying, "Why, where is he 
going? We want to hear him teach; we 
want him to heal our sick," and then, all 
at once, they notice that the boat is just 
going across the upper end of the sea 
and they say to each other, "Let's go 
around, it isn't far," and so they start 
walking very rapidly. Some who are not 
tired are running, all are hurrying just 
as fast as they can, and presently here 
they come away over to this side of the 
beautiful little lake. It is springtime of 
the year, and here in the grass you can 
see many flowers blossoming. See the 
pleasant hillside. I think it looks pretty 
with all these people standing all round 
here, don't you? 

Well, here is the little lad with his 

3 



34 THE SAND-TABLE 

tiny basket, and in it are five little loaves 
and two fishes. Here comes the boat ; the 
people are all eager to see it land; they 
are watching for the Master to step out 
of it, and he does. He looks around, he 
sees all the people standing on the shore; 
he is not cross with them for following 
him; he is just as ready to help them as 
ever, and at once he begins. A long, 
long time he works with them, then, 
finally, as it gets late in the afternoon, the 
disciples speak to him; one says, "Master, 
it is getting late; send all these people 
away that they may buy bread." Jesus 
looks right at him and says, "You give 
them to eat." But the disciples did not 
have anything for the people to eat. I 
think Jesus knew all the time what he 
was going to do. The disciples looked 
around, and finally Andrew — this one — 
comes up to Jesus and says, "Here is a 
lad with five small loaves and two fishes." 
Then Jesus says, "Bring them to me." 
Then I think the little lad himself walked 
up to Jesus, holding out the lunch. 

See, this is our little lad, and this is 
his little basket; it is ever and ever so 



STORIES ILLUSTRATED 35 

tiny because our picture has to be small, 
you see, but in it you may think there 
are five little loaves and two fishes. If 
you look at this picture of Jesus, I think 
you can almost believe he is smiling be- 
cause he is glad some one in the crowd 
has just what he wants. 

Now Jesus says to the disciples, 
"Have the people sit down in companies/' 
We will watch this group over here all sit 
down on the green, grassy hillside among 
the flowers, and then here is another 
group, and still another, and another — oh, 
there were so many of these groups of 
people, and now Jesus on the hillside, as 
he looks at the boy's simple little lunch, 
thanks God up in heaven for the gift of 
food, and then he begins to pass this out 
among the disciples, and all the people sit 
here on the ground and have all they 
can eat. 

See, this is Peter passing the loaves 
and fishes around to this group, and over 
here is Andrew, and here is James; this 
is John, and this one Philip, and Bar- 
tholomew, and all others who were Jesus' 
helpers. (It will be a good plan to re- 



36 THE SAND-TABLE 

view the names of the disciples with the 
children as each one passes before Jesus 
and takes the food to his group.) 

Now the people are eating and the 
disciples pass among them with more 
bread and fish, but the people have eaten 
all they want, and they thank Peter and 
James and John and Andrew and the 
other disciples, but most they thank 
Jesus. And then after the feast is ended 
Jesus said, "Now gather up what is left 
that nothing be lost," and the disciples 
gathered up twelve baskets of fragments. 

The Story of the Baby Moses. 

The sand-table should be arranged 
either the day before the story is told or 
very early on the morning before the 
hour for the class. 

There is no lesson that can be more 
beautifully illustrated by means of the 
sand-table than this story of Moses. A 
little paper houses with pillars should 
be made to represent Pharaoh's palace. 
Away in the distance might be seen the 
tiny pyramid, and of! on a wide space 
close to the river-side may be placed the 



STORIES ILLUSTRATED 37 

many, many little tents to represent the 
homes of the people of Israel. The chil- 
dren themselves may help to make these 
tents; perhaps they made them the Sun- 
day before the story is given, and they 
have been carefully kept to be used at 
this time. 

The wide bed of the Nile is repre- 
sented and the water poured in very, very 
carefully so that it will not appear muddy. 
Along the bank a thick growth of reeds 
and rushes, tiny shrubs and things of that 
sort will complete the setting. 

For the home of Moses one of the 
tents should be pointed out to the chil- 
dren and then the story told of how the 
little baby was so carefully protected in 
the home until he grew too old to be hid- 
den away longer. A tiny basket has al- 
ready been woven by the teacher and she 
brings it now, taking the baby up tender- 
ly, just as his mother would have taken 
the real baby, and placing him in the 
basket, and then, pretending that it is 
his mother really, carrying him out and 
hiding him in the reeds on the edge of 
the water. 



38 THE SAND-TABLE 

Have the princess, her maids, Miriam, 
and the others placed as the story would 
indicate. Miriam, hidden away among the 
grasses, watches as the princess sends her 
maid to bring the basket. It is opened 
and the baby cries. Miriam comes out 
from her hiding-place, and, walking up 
to the princess, asks if she shall call a 
nurse. Have the children watch as she 
fairly flies across the little path that leads 
to her own home and tells her mother to 
come ; that the princess needs a nurse for 
the baby. Then see the mother as she 
comes quickly up to the princess and the 
princess commands, "Take him home and 
nurse him, and I will pay thee thy hire." 
Help them to appreciate the joy she feels 
as she takes her own little baby back 
home to care for him until he is old 
enough to live in the big palace. 

THE STORY WITH SAND-TABLE ILLUS- 
TRATION. 

A long time ago there was a very 
wicked king. We will play this is his 
palace up here in the city. The king did 
not love God; he did not love God's peo- 



STORIES ILLUSTRATED 39 

pie — God's people were slaves to this 
wicked king. They lived all alone here 
in these little tents; there were many, 
many, many of these people. This old 
king made the people work very hard ; he 
did not want their little babies to live; he 
thought that maybe some day they would 
grow stronger than his people, and so he 
made a rule that every little boy baby 
that was born in the homes of the people 
who loved God should be thrown into the 
the river. The king sent his soldiers to 
find the babies and see that their parents 
did just what he said. 

Now I want you to look at this little 
tent away over here. A man, a woman, 
a little girl and boy lived here. One day 
another precious boy baby came to this 
man and woman; they loved him very 
much. They said, "Oh, we could never 
take him down to the river and throw 
him in !" The little girl loved her brother 
very dearly — she waL so happy when he 
came; she and her papa and mama 
planned together that they would keep 
that little boy and not let anybody else 
know about it. They kept the beautiful 



40 THE SAND-TABLE 

secret all to themselves ; they hid the baby, 
but after awhile he grew larger ; he began 
to kick the covers, he would laugh and 
crow just like other babies do, and his 
mother knew that she could not hide him 
any longer. Then she asked God to help 
her find a way to take care of the baby, 
and this was the way: down by the river 
were some tall rushes ; she cut a great lot 
of them and carried them home; then she 
made them nice and clean. After she had 
done this she began to weave them to- 
gether just like I am doing now, and 
after she had worked a long time she had 
made a tiny basket boat. Then she put 
pitch all over it so that the water could 
not get through the tiny openings. When 
the pitch was dry the basket would float 
on the water and no water could get 
into it. The mother made it soft inside, 
then she gave the baby something to eat; 
she hugged him and kissed him, and 
asked God to take care of him, then she 
put him in the basket and put a cover 
over him. Then Miriam went with her 
mother down to the river. Watch them 
as they come along. The mother is car- 






STORIES ILLUSTRATED 41 

rying her tiny basket and nobody guesses 
what she has in it. Here they come up 
and they are looking for a certain place 
along the river; it is the place where the 
princess comes to bathe. Watch the 
mother and Miriam and see if they find 
it. Yes, here they come right to the spot. 
They have been so frightened as they 
came along for fear somebody would see 
them and want to know what they had. 
See the mother as she places the basket 
right on the edge of the river among the 
reeds and rushes; she prays to God to 
protect her baby; then she turned and 
went back home, but she left Miriam hid- 
ing away in the reeds and rushes. 

Can you see her away back here ? She 
is so afraid somebody will see her, but 
she is anxious about her baby brother. 
Now here comes somebody down from the 
king's palace and Miriam wonders if it 
may be the soldiers coming to take her 
little baby brother away. She tries to 
peep out from among the bushes, and 
when she sees who it is her little heart is 
so glad that it just beats faster and 
faster; it is the princess and some of her 



42 THE SAND-TABLE 

maidens. Do you see the beautiful robes 
the princess wears ? Now she throws off 
her beautiful garment and steps right 
down into the water; she is looking right 
at the basket. Now she says to one of 
her maidens, "Come and get the little 
basket for me." This is the maiden that 
steps right down into the water and lifts 
the basket in her arms and brings it to 
the princess, and they open it and there 
is the tiny baby. Just the minute the lit- 
tle basket is opened the baby begins to 
cry, and the princess says, "Poor little 
baby, don't cry!" 

All this time, back here among the 
grasses, Miriam is watching; now she 
just can't stand it any longer, so she 
comes out from her hiding-place and goes 
right up to the princess and says, "Would 
you like to have me get a nurse for you?" 
And the princess said, "Yes, go." Mir- 
iam does not wait for anything else — she 
starts on a run just as fast as she can 
down to her little home. See, here she 
comes away round this way; mother 
meets her at the door. Miriam says, "Oh, 
mother, the princess wants a nurse for 



STORIES ILLUSTRATED 43 

the baby." And here come Miriam and 
her mother back, hand in hand, to see the 
princess, and when they come up Miri- 
am's mother bows to the beautiful lady; 
then the princess says, "Take this child 
and nurse him for me and I will pay you 
for it." And now back to home go 
Miriam and the mother and the little 
baby. Now the mother will not have to 
hide th baby away any more. She may 
care for him any way she pleases because 
she is working for the king's daughter. 

After awhile he grew old enough to 
be taken up to the king's house. The 
princess named him Moses, because, she 
said, "I drew him out of the water." 

God took care of Moses after he went 
to live with the princess; he took care of 
him all the days of his life. Isn't it beau- 
tiful to think that the Father in heaven 
cares for all his little girls and boys, no 
matter where they are? 

The Story of the Wise-men. 

Objects to be Used. — Toy camels, toy 
men, little twigs from evergreen-trees or 
little paper trees; small paper houses for 



44 THE SAND-TABLE 

the city of Jerusalem, Bethlehem and 
Nazareth; Herod's house prominently 
shown in Jerusalem. Make the sandy 
stretch of country to the "far east" over 
which these men must travel ; while there 
is no positive Bible statement for the 
number three used, it is generally con- 
ceded that there were three of these kings 
who came to worship and bring their 
presents. Too, these Wise-men probably 
came from Persia, Arabia or farther 
India, and the country route should be 
thus represented. 

Let the little camels be loaded with 
something which would represent gold, 
frankincense and myrrh. Show the Wise- 
men as they were studying the stars, 
and then tell of the planning of the trip 
to follow that new star, for they had been 
told that a new star would herald the 
birth of a new king. Show them as they 
stop occasionally to note the direction, 
then as they follow the star, on up to the 
city of Jerusalem. They stop at Herod's 
palace long enough to inquire where the 
new king is born and where they may 
find him. As a little side picture one cor- 



STORIES ILLUSTRATED 45 

ner of the sand-board might represent the 
inside of Herod's room with the mes- 
sengers asking for an audience for these 
three kings, and then the three kings, as 
they make their appearance in Herod's 
palace, bowing at his throne and asking 
him where the child is born. Herod can 
not answer their question, knowing noth- 
ing of any new king that is to be born. 

The Wise-men leave the palace, and 
as they go outside, lo, the star appears 
again for their guidance, and they follow 
it until it stops over the house in which 
Jesus and his mother are. 

To complete the story a small star 
fastened on a ring that will slip easily 
over a tiny wire stretched from two up- 
rights placed at opposite corners of the 
sand-table, may be made to move slowly 
as the Wise-men take their journey. It 
would not be best to end this story with 
the Wise-men finding Jesus in the manger, 
as most probably Mary and Joseph had 
gone into a home in Bethlehem. 

The Bible does not state exactly where 
the Wise-men found the baby, but it 
speaks of the star moving as the guide 



46 THE SAND-TABLE 

until it stood over the "house" in which 
Mary and Joseph and the baby were. 

The story in Matthew indicates clear- 
ly that Jesus must have been under two 
years of age, for when Herod had in- 
quired "what time the star appeared" and 
had asked the Wise-men to bring him 
word again, though this they did not, he 
sent out and "slew all the male children 
that were in Bethlehem and all the bor- 
ders thereof, from two years old and 
under, according to the time which he 
had exactly learned of the Wise-men." 

THE STORY AS IT SHOULD BE TOLD. 

This is the little town of Bethlehem, 
and this is the place where Jesus was 
born. After the people learned that there 
had been a little baby born in a manger, 
perhaps some of them invited Mary and 
Joseph to go to their home; I think they 
did, or, since Joseph was a carpenter, it 
may have been that he found some work 
to do right there at Bethlehem. I am not 
sure where they stayed, but I am sure 
that they were in Bethlehem for a little 
time after Jesus was born. Away over 






STORIES ILLUSTRATED 47 

here, over the desert sand, ever so far, 
in this country there lived some Wise- 
men; these men sat under the stars and 
watched the wonderful lights that God 
had made to shine in the sky. They 
loved everything that God had made, but 
they loved the stars best of all, and they 
liked to study them. These men taught 
the people many things about the stars 
and about God. They were called Wise- 
men because they taught the people so 
many wonderful things. 

These Wise-men had learned that 
when God sent his Son to the earth that 
he would send a new star to tell them 
about it. Each night they would sit and 
watch the stars and talk about God's 
precious promises to send his Son. One 
night while they were talking together 
the most beautiful star that they had ever 
seen shone in the sky. It moved slowly 
across the heavens; the Wise-men said, 
"This must be the star which is to tell 
us about the coming of the new King." 

These men knew very well that God's 
Son would be born in the country where 
the Jews lived. They lived a long, long 



48 THE SAND-TABLE 

way across the desert ; the desert is a hot, 
sandy country; it is pretty hard for peo- 
ple to cross the desert unless they go 
on the backs of camels. 

After the Wise-men had watched the 
stars for awhile they decided that they 
would go and find the new King and wor- 
ship him. There was a great deal of 
packing to do, for these men wanted to 
take rich presents to Jesus; they were 
going to take gold, frankincense and 
myrrh — the most beautiful, precious 
things which they found in their country ; 
but after awhile all was made ready. 

Here are the camels; see, they are 
loaded and the Wise-men are on their 
backs. Perhaps there were three of 
them. We will start them out across the 
desert. You can see the star, too, mov- 
ing across, guiding these men; it moves 
along right in front of them, and they 
are watching it; farther and farther 
across the desert they go. I do not know 
how long it takes them, but perhaps a 
good many days. I do not know how 
long they stop to rest on the way, but I 
am sure they stop sometimes because the 



STORIES ILLUSTRATED 49 

camels had to rest and have water, and 
the men themselves had to rest sometimes, 
but after awhile they reach the king's 
palace. The men get down from their 
camels and go up to this beautiful palace 
of Herod's at Jerusalem; they ask King 
Herod where the new King is. They 
call him "the King of the Jews/' but King 
Herod and his men had not heard about 
Jesus, and you may be sure that the old 
king was very anxious for fear some- 
body was coming to take his throne away 
from him. He was very careful to ask 
the Wise-men just when they first saw 
the star. You see, he did not want any 
one else to take his place. 

Just as soon as the Wise-men went out 
of the palace they looked up into the sky 
and there was the star; they followed it 
on and on, until they had reached the 
little city six miles south of Jerusalem. 
And when they came to Bethlehem the 
star stood still in the sky right over the 
place where the baby was. The Wise- 
men got down off their camels and they 
went in the house to worship the new- 
born King. They got down on their 



50 THE SAND-TABLE 

knees and gave him beautiful presents, 
but, best of all, they gave him their love. 

The Anointing of David. 

Cover a portion of the sand-table with 
moss to represent the pasture and show- 
David (either the picture of David cut 
from small card or small figure of a 
shepherd) watching the flocks. The 
sheep may be scattered around over the 
pasture land, and there should be many 
of them. 

A group of small houses, together with 
a larger white one for Saul's palace, 
should represent Jerusalem. Mark the 
situation of Ramah, Samuel's home, four 
miles north of Jerusalem, and another 
group of houses a distance of six miles 
southeast of Jerusalem marks the city of 
Bethlehem. Through the green of the 
grassy pasture land there should flow a 
quiet little stream. This may be repre- 
sented by use of a strip of blue paper, or 
a little lake may be represented by placing 
a piece of a mirror and building the sand 
about it for the shore. If the table be of 
zinc, then the bit of stream may be 



STORIES ILLUSTRATED 51 

marked and the water actually poured 
into it. 

In the scene thus pictured let the peo- 
ple of the story move in this direction or 
that direction as indicated. For instance, 
Samuel is called from his home in the 
north and told where to go. God's word 
was, "Samuel, take your horn of oil and 
go to Bethlehem, to the home of Jesse, 
for I have provided a king among his 
sons." Samuel had also been told to 
take an animal with him for secrifice, and 
so he should be represented as going 
along and driving the heifer in front of 
him. 

Picture the elders as they came out 
to meet Samuel to ask him whether he 
comes peaceably or not. Then represent 
Samuel as he invites Jesse and his seven 
sons to come with him to the sacrifice. 
Speak of the appearance of these seven 
sons as they passed before Samuel, and 
the rejection of each one, and then finally 
of the sending of a servant to the field 
for David. Have the feast spread, but 
true to the story, do not let the guests sit 
down to the feast until David comes. 



52 THE SAND-TABLE 

Then show how Samuel took the horn of 
oil and anointed David, and help the chil- 
dren understand that the brothers and 
the father did not exactly know what this 
meant. Represent David as he goes back 
to his field and Samuel returning to his 
home in Ramah, and the others going to 
their own home. 

THE STORY TOLD. 

Down here is the city of Bethlehem, 
and in it, I am not sure just where, but 
we will say right here, lived a man whose 
name was Jesse. Jesse was the father of 
eight sons, and the youngest of them all 
was David. 

Jesse had a good many flocks of sheep 
and herds of cattle. See, away out here 
in this beautiful pasture land are the 
sheep, and it was David's business to 
watch them. The pastures had no fences 
around them, but there was a sheep fold 
where the shepherd would take the sheep 
in the evening-time. This is David over 
here and he is tending the sheep. If he 
thinks there is any danger, he watches 
them pretty closely, and when the sheep 



STORIES ILLUSTRATED 53 

are quietly feeding David may play on 
the harp or he may throw stones at a 
mark, or do whatever he likes; one thing 
is sure, he will always care for his sheep 
first, and then, if there is any time, he 
will use that as he pleases. 

Away up here is a place called Ramah, 
and in it lives an old prophet; he is a 
good old man and one of God's greatest 
helpers. One day God spoke to him and 
said, "Samuel, take your horn of oil and 
go down to Bethlehem to the home of 
Jesse, for I have provided a king among 
his sons." Samuel did as he had always 
done ever since he was a little child — 
he obeyed God's voice and went down to 
the city of Bethlehem. God had told 
Samuel to take a heifer with him for a 
sacrifice. 

Samuel made ready to start down to 
Bethlehem; he drove the little animal, he 
carried his horn of oil, and did everything 
just the way that God would like. It was 
about this direction that Samuel had to 
travel, and here, if you watch, you can 
see him coming along the road. 

The people in the city thought perhaps 



54 THE SAND-TABLE 

they had done wrong and that Samuel 
was coming down to talk to them about 
it. Some of the officers of the city came 
out to meet Samuel; see, here they come, 
and they meet him out on the road; they 
are very much frightened, for they feel 
that maybe they have done something 
wrong, so they say to Samuel, "Comest 
thou peaceably?" And Samuel answers, 
"Peaceably. I come to make sacrifice. 
Come with me to the sacrifice." And so 
these people went with him. Then 
Samuel also called Jesse and his sons to 
the sacrifice. They all went, but they did 
not know what Samuel's business was. 
Samuel prepared the altar and then they 
made the sacrifice. After awhile every- 
thing was ready for the great feast and 
Samuel asked Jesse to have his sons pass 
before him. The sons were very fine- 
looking men, and as each one passed 
along Samuel thought, " Surely, this must 
be the one that God has chosen." Let's 
watch Samuel as he stands here in this 
place and as Jesse stands here to one side; 
the sons come up so that Samuel may see 
them. The old man has the horn of oil 



STORIES ILLUSTRATED 55 

all ready, so that when God tells him that 
the right one is passing, Samuel will pour 
the oil upon that one's head. 

First, here comes Eliab, and he is so 
tall and fine looking that Samuel thinks, 
"Surely Jehovah's anointed is before me," 
but God said something to Samuel that 
meant this, "Don't look at his handsome 
face or his manly figure ; he is not the one 
I have chosen." Then Abinadab comes 
before Samuel and he is not the right one; 
then come Shammah and four others, and 
as they each pass, God said, "No, he is 
not the one." 

Now Samuel is talking to Jesse; he 
says, "Are all thy children here?" Jesse 
answers him, "There is one more, a boy 
who is out in the field keeping the sheep." 
And Samuel says to him, "Send for him, 
for we will not sit down to the feast until 
he comes." So Jesse sends for David, and 
David comes. This is he coming right up 
before Samuel. God's voice whispers to 
Samuel, "This is he," and Samuel takes 
up the horn of oil and pours it right on 
David's head. The father and brothers 
knew of Samuel, and they knew that he 



56 THE SAND-TABLE 

was one of God's great messengers, but 
they did not know that this pouring on of 
the oil meant that David would some day 
be king over all Israel. 

After David is anointed, Samuel 
comes away back up here to Ramah, and 
David goes back out here in the field 
with the sheep. It was many years after 
this that David really became the king, 
but when you hear a story about that you 
will remember, won't you, the time that 
Samuel came to anoint him? 

OTHER STORIES BRIEFLY OUTLINED 

For the story of Elijah and the widow 
of Zarephath have something to represent 
the palace of Ahab, where Elijah went to 
tell Ahab that there should be no rain nor 
dew. Then the brook Cherith should 
be pictured and the cave where Elijah 
hid. A tiny bird perched upon the limb 
of an improvised tree might be called 
one of the ravens that helped to feed 
Elijah. The city of Zarephath should 
also be shown and the woman stooping 
down gathering sticks. A very tiny jar 
should represent the jar of meal and a 



STORIES ILLUSTRATED 57 

little cruse for the oil. All these put into 
use as the teacher is telling the incidents 
of the story will help the child to remem- 
ber it in a much better way than if the 
sand-table had not been used. 

If the sand-table be used simply to re- 
view the lesson at the close, then the fol- 
lowing little story may be told after the 
regular lesson story. 

Would you like to have me make the 
story of Elijah on the sand-table to-day? 
Right here I will make Ahab's home, and 
over here is where Elijah tells Ahab that 
no rain is coming to the earth any more 
until God gives the word. Now God tells 
Elijah to go to the brook Cherith, over 
by the Jordan. This will be the Jordan 
River, and right out here, coming down 
from this high mountain-side into the 
little valley, will be the brook Cherith, and 
right here I will put this peg, that will re- 
mind you that this is where Elijah 
stopped for many days until the water in 
the brook began to dry up. It was here 
that the ravens came, every day bringing 
food to him. Yes, here they feed him, 
and now, as the water is drying up, 



58 THE SAND-TABLE 

Elijah goes to Zarephath, and now, as 
he comes to the city gate — we will play 
this is the city gate — he sees a woman 
picking up sticks. Do you know what 
she is going to do with the sticks ? Well, 
right here is the house where the woman 
lives, and it is to this place that Elijah 
goes for his meals. And it is in the upper 
room that he sleeps. Who can tell me 
what wonderful thing happened in this 
upper room? There have been so many 
things in the lesson to-day for you to re- 
member, but I am sure you will do it 
well. When you get home, tell somebody 
there the story of this good man. 

Jesus and Blind Bartim^eus. 

An impressive lesson may be made 
from the story of Jesus healing blind 
Bartimaeus, inasmuch as this story of the 
healing is the beginning of Christ's last 
journey to Jerusalem. The two cities, 
Jerusalem and Jericho, should be repre- 
sented at extreme points, and the road 
leading to Jericho be marked upon the 
table. Tiny branches of trees may mark 
the road on either side; little cedar 



STORIES ILLUSTRATED 59 

or evergreen twigs may be used, and 
these would be very appropriate; if pos- 
sible, a little toy figure representing Bar- 
timaeus, the beggar, or a picture of him 
cut from one of the small picture cards. 
A tiny figure of Jesus cut from the pic- 
ture cards, and other followers who are 
coming along. These will complete the 
necessary material, and this illustrative 
work may be given right along with the 
lesson story, and thus it will seem more 
real and lifelike, and, as a consequence, 
be more impressive. 

Always have care, in cutting out fig- 
ures to represent an Oriental lesson, not 
to use figures from magazines with our 
modern dress, and be careful also not to 
have these figures too large. 

THE STORY TOLD. 

This place over here is the city of 
Jericho. This city is about fifteen miles 
from Jerusalem, and to get to Jerusalem 
one would have to go in this direction 
(southward). 

One day Jesus and his disciples were 
just leaving Jericho; they were going up 



60 THE SAND-TABLE 

to the city of Jerusalem. This was the 
very last time that Jesus would ever go 
along this road; all around here you can 
see the walls of the city of Jericho, and 
over here you see the walls around the 
city of Jerusalem. All the big cities in 
this country had great walls around them 
because there was nearly always a war 
going on and the people had to protect 
themselves from the enemy. The wails 
had gates which were opened in the day- 
time and always closed and locked at 
night. 

Every day, up to the gate of the city 
came a poor blind beggar; perhaps you 
have seen some of these blind people 
along the streets of the cities with lead- 
pencils to sell, or with shoestrings, and 
then sometimes, perhaps, you have seen 
them standing with a tin in their hands. 
They like to hold the tins, for when any- 
body drops a coin into the tin you know 
it makes a noise, and then the blind man 
can thank the person who gave it to him. 

Let's watch this blind man as he 
comes right up here to the city gate; 
maybe he has learned to come by himself; 



STORIES ILLUSTRATED 61 

I suppose he has, for he has been blind 
all his life and he has learned to do many 
things ; he sits down at the gate, and while 
he is sitting here he hears the tramping 
of feet and he wonders what it is all 
about. There are a great many people 
near the blind man, and he says, "What 
is this commotion?" And the people tell 
him that Jesus is coming this way. 

All at once a great hope comes into 
the blind man's heart — he has heard 
about Jesus. What if Jesus could cure 
him! He starts right out to the place 
where he thinks he will find Jesus. He 
begins to cry out so that Jesus will notice 
him. These people around him say, "Go 
on back to your place; leave the Master 
alone." Maybe these people were a. little 
unkind to the old, blind man, but he calls 
out so clearly, "Jesus, thou son of David, 
have mercy on me." And these people 
all cry out together, "Hold your peace." 
The blind man does not listen to them; 
he calls still louder, "Thou son of David, 
have mercy on me." 

Jesus stops to listen. He says, "Call 
the man," and they call the blind Barti- 



62 THE SAND-TABLE 

maeus. Some one says to him, "Barti- 
maeus, the Master wants you — he is call- 
ing for you; be of good cheer." And the 
blind man springs right up to meet Jesus. 
Jesus is looking right at the blind man 
and saying to him, "What wilt thou that 
I should do unto thee?" And I am sure 
you are guessing what the blind man an- 
swers Jesus; he is saying, "Rabboni, that 
I should receive my sight." 

Jesus is looking right at the poor blind 
man and saying, "Go thy way, thy faith 
hath made thee whole." That was Jesus' 
way of saying, "Bartimseus, because you 
believe on me and because you believe I 
can make your poor blind eyes to see, I 
will do it." And the blind man received 
his sight and followed Jesus. 

Jesus Healing a Sick Man. 

This story is based on Luke 5: 17-26 
and Mark 2: 1-12. 

In order to make the sand-table lesson 
a true one the teacher should note the 
manner of dress and the customs of the 
people of Palestine, their habits of life 
and their style of building. The build- 



STORIES ILLUSTRATED 63 

ings for the most part were low, and the 
roofs made by laying stone slabs upon 
beams and covering all this over with a 
layer of hard-rolled earth, or a mixture 
of sand and mortar and tar which would 
resemble somewhat a cement. This should 
be told to the children as the lesson is 
given. 

The houses have the stairway on the 
outside and thus it was easy for the four 
friends to carry the sick man up to the 
roof. Perhaps Jesus was in one of the 
better houses, which consisted of an open 
courtyard in which there is frequently a 
well or fountain. This is surrounded on 
three sides by rooms with almost window- 
less walls; with a narrow stairway in the 
center opening into the courtyard. 

As for the objects to be used in this 
lesson, the teacher must know the person- 
nel of the company gathered there. Ac- 
cording to Luke 5: 17 there were Phari- 
sees and doctors of the law, who "were 
come out of every village of Galilee, 
Judea and Jerusalem." They had come 
to criticize Jesus. 

Little figures cut from picture cards 



64 THE SAND-TABLE 

or tiny toy figures may represent these. 
Then there are many others crowding 
around. One can not have too many of 
these figures crowded into the courtyard 
of this house. 

The house might be built as described 
above, with the open court in the center 
and the rooms on three sides around it; 
the other part enclosed, but with a door 
which opens into the courtyard. To the 
shoulders of the tiny toy figures might be 
fastened a sort of mattress or piece of 
cloth like a hammock, and a tiny figure 
representing the man who is sick placed 
upon this. 

Begin with the story of Jesus as he 
is preaching and teaching the people and 
healing the sick that are brought to him. 
Tell the children of the people who are 
there just to criticize and to find fault 
with Jesus; show at another point in the 
city of Capernaum a little home in which 
a man is tying on the bed sick and some 
friends who come in and tell him about 
Jesus. Tell of their faith in thinking that 
Jesus can make this man well and how 
the man was anxious to go that he might 



STORIES ILLUSTRATED 65 



be healed. Show the four as they start 
carrying their sick friend and the ap- 
proach to the house where Jesus was. 
Show how impossible it was for the men 
to get in, and how very sorry the man 
and his friends were that they could not 
get near Jesus, and how the man in 
his sorrow may have cried out, "Oh, I 
I will have to go back home again without 
being healed because there is such a 
crowd around the Master that I can not 
get near him." Then tell of the thought- 
fulness of the one who said, "Might we 
not carry him up the stairway and let him 
down through the roof?" Then show 
how this could be accomplished, and how, 
when the man lay on the mattress at 
Jesus' feet, Jesus said, "Arise, take up 
thy couch and go unto thy house," and 
the great triumph when the sick man 
arose from his bed, picked it up and 
carried it away will cause the little ones 
to remember the mighty power of the 
Saviour. 

Let all the story teem with your own 
deepest interest and it is sure to hold 
that of the children. 



66 THE SAND-TABLE 

The Triumphal Entry. 

This story may be made very beauti- 
ful and impressive indeed by having tiny 
strips of green paper cut to represent 
palms and all the children and people 
holding these aloft. Then, too, there are 
the garments of red, green, yellow and 
blue, purple and white, that these people 
take off from their own shoulders and 
spread down for Jesus. There is the little 
donkey on which he is to ride, the picture 
figure of Jesus is cut from one of the pic- 
ture cards. Pictures also of little children, 
as they carry their flowers and strew them 
in the way. After the story is told, retell 
it with the sand- table about as follows: 

Right here I will make the road that 
leads to Jerusalem. See all these little 
houses here ! They are cut from papers, 
but you can play that they are real, can't 
you? This is the little gate, made so it 
will swing open. Now we will open the 
gate to the city, for this is the daytime. 
The gates were always open during the 
day and at night they were closed; at 
least, they were always closed at night in 



STORIES ILLUSTRATED 67 

Jesus* time. Now, who is it we have been 
talking about to-day? Why was Jesus 
going up to Jerusalem? If you will 
watch, you will see the great procession. 
Here are the little children with the palms 
in their hands. Here are all the crowds 
of people. Can't you play that these are 
all real and that you see moving along the 
road this great procession of people, and 
will you shut your eyes and think you 
hear the beautiful songs these people 
w T ere all singing? Let us say the words 
together: "Hosanna to the son of David; 
hosanna in the highest." 

Now you see Jesus coming, and all 
the children. He is going in at the city 
gate, and the people are saying, "Who is 
this that is causing so much excitement? 
Who is this that the people are all turn- 
ing out to see and to welcome ?" Some 
one says, "It is Jesus of Nazareth. Have 
you not heard?" And then many follow 
him who have sick and blind and lame 
friends with them. He goes up to the 
temple. See, this is the temple. When he 
goes in here he finds the wicked people 
doing the wrong things. These are the 



68 THE SAND-TABLE 

ones that he sends out of the temple. 
Perhaps they will learn a lesson and try 
to be better. Now he comes away from 
the temple, and here are many who were 
sick and lame whom Jesus stops to heal. 
Now he goes on out of the city to this 
little place down here just a short dis- 
tance. This is Bethany, the home of 
Mary and Martha and Lazarus, and this 
is the road he would take to go down to 
Bethany. We will leave Jesus at this 
dear little home to rest, for he must be 
very weary. Will you remember all this 
story and tell it to mamma or some one 
when you go home? 




JUNIORS MAKING A MAP OF PALESTINE. 



VI. 

Suggestions for Map Work. 

The Juniors will enjoy helping the 
teacher plan, make or obtain objects for 
illustration of any lesson, but the real 
benefit which the Junior derives from the 
sand-table will be the location of places 
mentioned, of routes followed on journeys 
and of the general outline and appearance 
of the countries of the Bible. The teacher 
needs to study the map, and not only the 
map, but to learn as much as possible of 
the general appearance; certain parts 
would be desert, then there should be no 
growth — perhaps a little oasis or two. 
Other parts are thickly wooded; teacher 
must know something about this, else be 
unable to help the children see (which is 
the thing so vital to the pupils of this 
age). 

Be sure to hang on the wall before 
the children a map showing Paul's first 
missionary journey. The prominent 

69 



70 



THE SAND-TABLE 



PALESTINE 

in the time of 

CHRIST 




Lo-jltnAt Cw tro» Qtttntnek 



STORIES ILLUSTRATED 71 

places he touched are noted. If the lesson 
for the day be on this subject, then the 
outline of the entire story in sand would 
be a delightful diversion for the children 
and also make the lesson so impressive 
as never to be forgotten. Then, marking 
the city Troas, where Paul received the 
Macedonian call, let the children watch 
as he steps aboard the little ship that 
carries him across the Cyprus and thence 
on to the end of the journey. Let them 
watch as he goes overland to certain 
other places, and the journey is fixed 
in their minds completely. In order 
to aid them in the best way, they may, 
as the teacher directs a question, help to 
locate the places touched. 

The map picture of the Holy Land 
may be made by them with its relief of 
mountains and the few prominent ones 
shown on the map, this also should be 
hung before the class as they are work- 
ing, and the mountains may be named and 
located by them. At the very outset it is 
a wise plan to write the name of a certain 
mountain and fasten it with a toothpick 
to the point designated for its location. 



72 THE SAND-TABLE 

The names of the cities and rivers may 
also be designated in the same way. The 
value of this work can not be estimated, 
and it certainly will repay any teacher 
who takes the time and pains to equip 
herself properly in order to do this. 

The Story of Paul. 
(For Junior, Intermediate or Adult.) 

We have told the story of Paul's life 
many times without the aid of anything; 
a few with the aid of the map, which is 
most helpful, but if the places visited by 
him were represented on the sand-map, 
the topography of the country noted as 
far as possible, the story will be better 
understood, and the directions, journeys, 
places, etc., will not form a mass of con- 
fused ideas. 

In the Junior department there is 
quite a little study of Paul's life, and 
these children are delighted to know just 
which way he went, the places that he 
visited, and what happened. The Inter- 
mediates may help mark out the course 
themselves, and the older people of your 
Sunday school, who have so far forgot- 



STORIES ILLUSTRATED 73 

ten their geography, and especially that 
which has not centered around their own 
country, will be helped immeasurably by 
the same touches. For the assistance of 
the teacher in connection with each of 
these sand-table demonstrations, one mis- 
sionary journey is marked on the map 
given herewith. This map needs to be 
enlarged as much as possible. Small 
white cards with the names of the cities 
written upon them may represent the 
cities. These should be placed in their 
proper places; other material might be 
used for this, but if the names be given 
at first the memory will be aided in a 
more definite way. The cities of Damas- 
cus and Jerusalem might be represented 
with the little group of houses. If one 
has time to go into the detail a little fur- 
ther, in Damascus might be shown the 
window in the wall where Paul was let 
down in the basket. In order for the 
teacher, who may not have had oppor- 
tunity to study widely concerning these 
walls, the picture given on page 7 shows 
the wall of Damascus as it appears at 
this time, and the window marked is the 



74 THE SAND-TABLE 

one through which history tells us Paul 
was let down. Jerusalem was also a 
walled city. 

Much information may be had from 
an encyclopedia or from pictures in the 
lesson quarterlies, and these will always 
suggest new illustrations to be used, and 
the resourceful teacher has only need to 
plan for a little while in order to make 
the lessons more complete and helpful. 

RESUME OF PAUL'S LIFE. 

For the first missionary journey fol- 
low largely the map, but review the early 
story of Paul briefly, for instance, as 
follows: "Here is Tarsus, the city of 
Paul's birth, and here Jerusalem, where 
he was in the school of Gamaliel; it was 
while Paul was in Jerusalem that he 
helped in the persecution of the Chris- 
tians, holding the clothes of the young 
men while they stoned Stephen to death. 
Then, believing that he was right, he 
starts to go up here to the city of Damas- 
cus to persecute the Christians/' 

Mention briefly the story of the con- 
version and then of the visit to Damas- 



STORIES ILLUSTRATED 75 

cus, then show the location of Arabia, 
where Paul communes with God and pre- 
pares himself for wide service. Come 
back with him to the city of Damascus 
and see him persecuted. In the wall let 
one window represent the one through 
which he was let down in the basket. 
Go with him to Jerusalem and speak of 
the comradeship of himself and Barnabas, 
a strong Christian man who thoroughly 
believed in Paul; then tell of their jour- 
neys throughout all Judea where Paul 
preached fearlessly. Back to Tarsus goes 
Paul and then out with Barnabas through 
Antioch. Another young man joins him- 
self to the party; this is Mark. Paul 
crosses the narrow strip of water to Cy- 
prus, then to Phrygia in Pamphylia, and 
here it is that Mark decides to return to 
Jerusalem. Next up through this country 
to a second Antioch — Antioch in Pisidia; 
southeastward they travel to Iconium, to 
Lystra, to Derbe. Turning back from 
Derbe, Paul visits Lystra and Iconium, 
Antioch and Pisidia, returning to Antioch 
in Syria by way of Attalia. At Attalia 
Paul and Barnabas took ship and sailed 



76 THE SAND-TABLE 

to Antioch in Syria, thus ending the first 
missionary journey. 

It should be the teacher's desire to 
have the pupils remember certain inci- 
dents of each of the places named, there- 
fore we give a list of the cities visited in 
the first missionary journey, together 
with the chief events of that visit. 

Seleucia. — Leaving Antioch in Syria, 
Paul and his companions descend the 
mountains to Seleucia, the seaport of 
Antioch, about sixteen miles from the 
city, named for Seleucus Nicator, B. C. 
280 (Acts 13:24). 

Sal amis. — From Seleucia they sailed 
to Cyprus ( Barnabas' old home), and 
stopped at Salamis (Acts 13: 5). 

Paphos. — Crossing the island of Cy- 
prus, which is about 140 miles long, they 
came to Paphos, the capital, which was 
the residence of the proconsul (Acts 13: 
6-12). It is at this point that the record 
first shows that Saul is also called Paul 
(Acts 13:9). 

Perga, — Leaving Paphos, they sail in 
a northwestern direction and strike the 
province of Asia Minor, called Pamphylia. 



STORIES ILLUSTRATED 77 

They pass from Attalia for the present 
and land at Perga (Acts 13: 13). It was 
at this point that John Mark left Paul 
and Barnabas. 

Antioch in Pisidia. — Going by land 
from Perga, Paul and Barnabas go by a 
dangerous and difficult way from Pam- 
phylia to a city in the northern part of 
Pisidia called Antioch. Here Paul 
preached in the synagogue, a discourse 
that is reported by Luke in somewhat 
detailed form (Acts 13: 14-52). 

Iconium. — Driven by persecution from 
Antioch, they go eastward a distance of 
some sixty miles to Iconium. Here a 
great multitude, both of Jews and Greeks, 
believed on Jesus (Acts 14: 1-5). 

Lystra. — Persecution at Iconium be- 
came so severe that Paul and Barnabas 
were compelled to go on. They next go 
to Lystra, southeast of Iconium, where 
Paul works a miracle and where super- 
stitious people, because of this, desire to 
worship Paul and Barnabas, calling Bar- 
nabas Jupiter and Paul Mercury (Acts 
14:8-18). 

Derbe. — Again driven out by per- 



78 THE SAND-TABLE 

secution, they continue in a southeasterly 
direction a distance of about twenty miles 
to Derbe (Acts 14: 19, 20). From Derbe, 
Paul and Barnabas return by way of 
Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, confirming 
the churches which they had planted. 

Attalia. — At Attalia, a seaport six- 
teen miles from Perga, Paul and Bar- 
nabas took ship and sailed to Antioch in 
Syria, where they were gladly received 
by the church. This ended the first mis- 
sionary journey. 

For the second journey Paul has as 
his companions Silas, Timothy and Luke, 
and, starting from Antioch, Paul travels 
through Syria to Cilicia. The first city 
mentioned in his second journey is Derbe, 
which is the eastern city in Asia Minor 
visited by him on his first journey. From 
Derbe he goes to Lystra, when Timothy 
joins him. From Lystra they pass 
through the region of Phrygia and Gala- 
tia and are about to go into Bithynia, 
but the Spirit of God directs them to 
Troas. At Troas Paul receives the Mace- 
donian call and visits the places which are 
mentioned here, the chief event being his 



STORIES ILLUSTRATED 79 

visit to Philippi, a province in Macedonia 
and a place where the church was founded 
in Europe (Acts 16: 11-40). 

Amphipolis. — Amphipolis was thirty- 
three miles southwest of Philippi. Paul 
did not tarry long at this place, but 
traveled on westward to Appolonia (Acts 
17:1). 

Appolonia. — Luke tells us that he 
stopped at Appolonia, which is thirty miles 
from Amphipolis, but we have no record 
of the work done there (Acts 17: 1). 

Thessalonica. — Thessalonica was the 
capital of the province of Macedonia. It 
was named after a sister of Alexander 
the Great. Paul founded a church here 
largely of Gentiles, to which he wrote his 
two letters; i. e., 1 and 2 Thessalonians 
(Acts 17:1-9). 

Berea. — Because of a riot, Paul leaves 
Thessalonica and goes on to Berea. At 
this place the people were ready to receive 
Paul's message and examined the Scrip- 
tures daily to see whether the things were 
so (Acts 17: 10-13). 

Athens. — Athens was one of the most 
important cities of that time. In Paul's 



80 THE SAND-TABLE 

time it was the literary center of the civil- 
ized world. At this place he preached 
on the text, "To the Unknown God" 
(Acts 16: 17-34). 

After Paul left Athens he traveled 
westward forty miles to Corinth. Here 
he preached for a year and a half and 
worked at tent-making. 1 and 2 Corin- 
thians were written to the people here 
(Acts 1:1-18). 

Leaving Corinth, Paul goes to Cen- 
chraea, about nine miles east; from this 
place he, with Priscilla and Aquila, set 
sail to Asia Minor. 

Leaving Cenchrsea, Paul soon reaches 
Ephesus, goes into the synagogue and 
reasons with the Jews. While urged to 
remain a long time, Paul hastens away 
with Priscilla and Aquila. Going around 
the southwest coast of Asia Minor, he 
and his companions sailed direct to 
Csesarea, from there on to Jerusalem — 
the fourth time since his conversion. 
After visiting the people at Jerusalem 
he goes again to Antioch, and from Anti- 
och starts the third missionary journey. 

In the third missionary journey Paul 



STORIES ILLUSTRATED 



81 




82 THE SAND-TABLE 

was associated part, or all, of the time 
with Silas, Timothy, Luke, Aquila and 
Priscilla and others. The following par- 
agraph from McGarvey will help the 
teacher in planning the third missionary 
journey. 

"In order to reach Galatia and Phry- 
gia, the only districts in the route that are 
mentioned, he must have made the circuit 
once more from Antioch around through 
Syria into Cilicia, and thence by way of 
the gates of Cilicia into the elevated 
tablelands of Lycaonia and Pisidia, past 
Derbe, Lystra, Iconium and the Pisidian 
Antioch. This was a second visit to the 
churches which he planted there. If we 
may judge from the rapidity of his pas- 
sage, he found the churches in all the 
regions in such a condition that they did 
not specially need a protracted visit from 
him, yet his work among them, brief as 
it was, consisted in establishing all the 
disciples. He had this work in view, as 
well as the report in Antioch, when he de- 
clined the invitation to stay in Ephesus." 

Follow the map for outline, and per- 
haps use a red cord or just a pencil mark 



STORIES ILLUSTRATED 83 

on your sand-table to indicate the journey, 
but be very familiar with the route from 
one city to another. The following are the 
places visited and the events of the jour- 
ney found in chapters 18 to 28 of Acts. 

Lydia. — Paul, having passed the "up- 
per country," came to Ephesus in Lydia, 
where he remains longer than at any 
other place during his active ministry. 
He remained in Ephesus nearly three 
years, at the close of which time he wrote 
his first letter to the Corinthians. 

Mysia. — From Ephesus Paul went on 
to Troas in Mysia. We learn this not in 
Acts, but in the letter which he wrote 
when he went on this journey (2 Cor. 2: 
12, 13). He expected to meet Titus there 
with news from the church at Corinth, 
but when he did not he took ship and 
sailed once more from Asia into Europe. 

Macedonia. — The next place men- 
tioned in the narrative is Macedonia 
(Acts 22), but it might be inferred that 
he revisited the cities of Philippi, Thes- 
salonica and Berea. While in Mace- 
donia, Paul wrote the second letter to the 
Corinthians. 



84 THE SAND-TABLE 

Greece. — From Macedonia Paul goes 
on into Greece, that province which was 
also called Achaia (Acts 18: 27). While 
at Corinth in Greece he wrote his letters 
to the Galatians and Romans. 

Philippi. — From Greece Paul starts to 
Jerusalem, hoping to reach there in time 
for the feast of Pentecost. He, however, 
did not go by the direct route, but, prob- 
ably on account of the Jewish plot to mur- 
der him, goes around by Philippi. Here 
he is rejoined by Luke, who stays with 
him to the very end (Acts 23 : 26). 

Troas. — Paul goes from Philippi to 
Troas, where he remained seven days. It 
is here that he restored Eutychus to life 
(Acts 25:13). 

Miletus. — In describing the journey, 
Luke says: "And when he [Paul] met us 
at Assos, we took him in, and came to 
Mitylene. And sailing from thence, we 
came the following day over against 
Chios; and the next day we touched at 
Samos; and the day after we came to 
Miletus" (Acts 20: 14, 15). Miletus is 
at the mouth of the river Meander, thirty- 
six miles south of the city of Ephesus. 



STORIES ILLUSTRATED 85 

At that time it was on the shore, but now 
the coastline is so changed that it is ten 
miles inland. The ship being delayed 
here, Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders 
to come down to meet him. His farewell 
address to them is filled with deep tender- 
ness (Acts 20: 16-38). 

Tyre. — Leaving Miletus, Paul and his 
companions sail with a straight course to 
Cos, a small island northwest of Rhodes, 
then on to Rhodes, thence to Patara, a 
seaport in Lysia. From this place Paul 
takes another ship and sails to Tyre in 
Phoenicia. Here he finds disciples and 
tarries for a week (Acts 21 : 2-4). 

Ptolemais. — Paul again takes ship and 
sails southward to Ptolemais, where he 
saluted the brethren and stayed with them 
a day (Acts 21:7). 

Ccesarea. — On the morrow he de- 
parted from Ptolemais and came to Cses- 
area, where he entered in the house of 
Philip, who was one of the seven deacons 
of the early church (Acts 21: 8, 9). 

Jerusalem. — From Csesarea Paul goes 
to Jerusalem for the fifth time since his 
conversion, from which place he soon 



86 THE SAND-TABLE 

goes forth as a prisoner of the Lord. 

THE JOURNEY TO ROME. 

This journey is exceedingly interest- 
ing, and the map to-day is changed. The 
important cities along the coast and the 
islands are noted, and the sea voyage 
should be marked with the use of a tiny 
wooden or paper boat. It starts from 
Caesarea, stopping at Sidon, Myra, Fair 
Havens, Melita, Syracuse and finally 
reaches Rome. 

We are largely indebted to "Studies in 
the Gospels and Acts," by Moninger, and 
to McGarvey, for the concise way of put- 
ting these facts. 

This demonstration may seem a little 
perplexing, and yet, with the principal 
events of the first two journeys marked 
out, it is not so complex, and, after all, 
easily mapped. One of the pupils used to 
map-drawing, or any close student, might 
prepare the table for the demonstration, 
and certain it is that, once these facts 
are fixed this way, they will not be for- 
gotten; they will stand out as clear and 
distinct events and places. 



CLOSING WORD 

The few lessons that have been 
planned and pictured are sufficient to help 
the teachers who have not had experience 
with the sand-table. After one lesson has 
been pictured on the sand-table it becomes 
a very easy thing to picture other lessons, 
and the teacher, by using her own indi- 
viduality and the material which she finds 
about her, may become expert in present- 
ing lessons with the use of the sand-table. 
Many lessons in both Uniform and Graded 
present fine opportunity for sand-table 
demonstrations. It would not be best to 
picture all lessons in this way — all sub- 
jects do not lend themselves quite so 
readily to this, and, even so, children need 
variety, and the teacher should use the 
sand-table only as she thinks best. It 
must be made to impress the spiritual 
thought or it has no place in our work. 

THE END. 



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